Spiritual Growth

Bp. Barron's Lent Reflections

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells Matthew, “Follow me.” The call of Jesus addresses the mind, but it is meant to move through the mind into the body, and through the body into the whole of one’s...

We need saints without cassocks, without veils - we need saints with jean and tennis shoes. We need saints that go to the movies that listen to music, that hang out with their friends.

We need saints that place God in first place ahead of succeeding in any career. We need saints that look for time to pray every day and who know how to be in love with purity, chastity, and all good things. We need saints, saints for the 21st century with a spirituality, appropriate to our new time.

We need saints that have a commitment to helping the poor and to make the needed social change. We need saints to live in the world, to sanctify the world and to not be afraid of living in the world by their presence in it.

We need saint that drink Coco-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods. We need saints that love the Eucharist, that are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends.

We need saints who like movies,the theater, music, dance,sports. We need saints that are open, sociable, normal, happy companions. We need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy the best in this world without being callous or mundane.